Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Well who better to answer you then the official IndieGoGo website. I'm gonna break it down by popular FAQs and tailor it to "THE SAVING".

Before you sit down at your computer and watch my pitch going up this weekend that includes THE SAVING teaser trailer, professional endorsements galore, and my passion for this film bursting at its seams: The Lowdown.

Here goes nothing!

indieGoGo in 1 sentence(ok it might be a run on sentence so bare with me lol)

A website that ANYONE can access and allows ANYONE to donate money to projects (like my film) and receive some really neat VIP perks ("Team Patrick" t-shirt anyone?) in return and that lovely warm feeling in your heart that you get when you know you're helping make my dreams a reality.

Q. What is indieGoGo?

A. indieGoGo is a collaborative way to fund ideas. Anyone with a project - creative, cause or entrepreneurial - can raise money, offer perks and rock my vision for THE SAVING hardcore.

Q. How do fans (Of THE SAVING) contribute?

A.All projects can accept payments via credit cards and PayPal. Also, projects with a U.S. bank account can accept payments via Amazon Payments. Plus, you can send checks directly to me if you prefer that route ;)

Q. What are VIP Perks?

A. VIP Perks are my project's way to engage you as fans, build your trust and provide an opportunity for you guys join in on the awesome experience. They're a great way for me to offer one-of-a-kind experiences, and truly connect with the people who have really feel the passion I have for this production.

Just a few examples of perks I'm going to offer:

Your name (Or your companies' name ) in the credits as an Associate Producer!

A 1 on 1 Skype session with me, MJ Slide, THE SAVING's Writer/Director and one member of the cast or crew of your choice. Ask any questions you want, nothing is off limits.

“Movie only” copy of the film (DVD or digital download) and THE SAVING official movie poster, signed by the cast and crew.

Exclusive first access to “The S. Mattheus Sessions” A series of therapy video segments entirely improv-ed by THE SAVING cast.

And for those who really wanna send this film to the top...

A VIP pass (Travel expenses and lodging not included) to dinner with myself and the cast, followed by a private screening of the film upon completion, and my undying gratitude forever.

So with all that said, you might be wondering "Ok Cool MJ, I wanna donate to your film but what the heck are you using all the money for?!"What the money will be used for: Renting of high quality equipment, specifically sound and lighting related. Securing locations, costume/make up design and Post-Production editing. Plus a generous craft service table (My people gotta stay energized and hydrated) and I’m sure my cast and crew would appreciate a hot meal during the long days of shooting

Well there ya have it! I hope I've covered all the questions you might have about the how one can get involved with the film and donate to it.

If you do have more, just ask. Bang out a comment or you can hit me up directly at thesavingproduction@gmail.com

I'm all ears.

Thanks for reading!

PS. I apologize for the odd spacing between the paragraphs, Blogger is being weird.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

August is here and its safe to say, I'm freaking out, both out of excitement and nervousness

The shooting days have been locked. The second weekend in September is our target. Yes, I am very much out of mind.

So lets get you guys all caught up to date....

1. Teaser trailer is officially edited and almost ready to send off to the composer to get the dang thing scored. That whole process was probably one the best learning experiences of my life. From shooting to editing. Talk about trial and error. Mental notes galore, how I'll carry myself on set, interact with the fellow crew members and one of the major highlights was furthering my confidence in coaching actors. I've got a great cast, so willing to take instruction but also own the characters for themselves. Again, I'm straight up spoiled. Once scored the trailer will be viewable on our Indiegogo crowdfunding web page. And for all those who have absolutely no idea what Indiegogo or crowndfunding is, no worries, I'll be blogging about that tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to cover any questions about how you can help support THE SAVING. ;)

2. Speaking of Indiegogo, I wrapped my pitch video a few days ago. First off, I pretty much hate being on camera, not so much when I'm acting cause heck, you're not supposed to look like you're aware of the camera anyhow but when I gotta stick a Flip Cam on a tripod and talk at people, it just feels weird. Vlogging is one thing, trying to convince people that my film is worth supporting financially is all whole other matter. It takes a special sort of grit and determination. The right amount of openness and tenacity to convey the passion I have for this film and to complete it with every part of me person giving 110%...Lets just say, I'd make a really sucky used car salesman. ;) Basically I went at it with the approach that people wanna see someone genuine. I'm gonna leave the final verdict up to my readers/viewers. Please check out the pitch when its posted. Did I win your hearts? I sure hope so.

3. I'm also pleased to announce that a local artist has joined the production department for THE SAVING. Emily Satterfield is a talented teen artist who is well on her way to making it big and I'm just glad to have the chance to snag her to do some concept art and official marketing material for me film. You can check out her art work in her gallery here :D

August 4th.

4. The first rehearsal for THE SAVING took place a little over 2 weeks ago. 4 hours of really hashing out the characters, discussing back stories, working out the kinks in a few really tough lines where perfect delivery is critical and I feel like we're really starting to make some major headway. Stephanie and Patrick are just, well FANTASTIC! They're all in, open to discussing anything and everything about their characters, digging into their heads. Nothing is off limits. They wanna be Skye Mattheus and Paul Connel. Period. It would be an understatement to say I'm merely blessed. We're all pretty new at this so there are very few expectations except for the hefty ones I place on myself.

5. On the topic of acting, in two days my cast and crew are locking ourselves away in a library conference room and undertaking what I'd like to call the ultimate in method improv. For all those who follow me on twitter, and are a friend of mine on Facebook, its the Super Secret Mini Film Shoot I've been going on about. Aptly entitled "The S. Mattheus Sessions" (and if anyone wants to accuse me of being a HUGE Joss Whedon fan girl by all means do so, ITS TRUE) this "Mums the word" collection of therapy sessions will be one of the many awesome incentives that one can receive for supporting THE SAVING through Indiegogo. Let me tell ya, its gonna be EPIC.

6. Yesterday I camped out in Panera from 9 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon. One. Massive. Production. Meeting. Running on green tea mints and pure nerdom Rebecca, Apryl, and I banged away at our pre-production goals, from nailing down the press kits and other marketing tools, editing the VO in the teaser trailer, getting stared out by creepy waiter who somehow knew Apryl's name (For Stephanie "STRANGER DANGER!"), and costume design to delving deep into the psyche and back story that makes for a very complicated but Skye Mattheus. Its these type of meetings, labor intensive and mentally draining though they that really capture for me the essence of what indie filmmaking is all about. Its a collaboration of different minds, ideas, emotions, and talents. Everything and everyone brought together for one goal, to make the best film we could dream of with the resources at hand.

I think that about sums up all I've been up to these past couple weeks. I promise to blog tomorrow about Indiegogo and how that whole thing works.

Off to keep doing the things I love, screenwriting, drinking coffee, nerding out and not thinking about money, Ha.